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SHRF MONTHLY REPORT - DECEMBER 2007
COMMENTARY
Forced Labour
Apart from many other types of human rights violations, forced labour, probably one of the longest practised, most systemically integrated and systematically used by successive Burmese juntas’ troops, remains widespread in Shan State, especially in rural areas where it is difficult for outsiders to gain access to, and where people have the least chance to lodge complaints against the perpetrators.
Unpaid civilian forced labour is still being widely used by the SPDC troops and their allies in virtually all areas of their activities, e.g., military operations, construction of infrastructure and military facilities, cultivation of subsistence and cash crops, and many other routine and occasional types of forced labour.
Military operations, especially in patrolling the rural areas, still require villagers to serve as guides and porters during which they are subject to other kinds of abuses, e.g., beating, rape, torture and even killing.
In building and maintaining infrastructure such as roads, railways, bridges, military bases and camps, etc., mass forced labour of the people is still systematically used in many places.
While state-managed physic nut cultivation is an ongoing process requiring routine forced labour of the people, other seasonal crops like rice, bean, corn and sesame, etc., cultivated by local SPDC troops also demand seasonal forced labour of the people.
Continuing forced labour coupled with many other types of gross human rights abuses have been making people’s life more and more unbearable.
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SITUATION OF FORCIBLE CULTIVATION OF CROPS
In spite of the constant denial of continuing use of unpaid civilian forced labour by the SPDC authorities in cultivating crops for the military, there is still a lot of evidence indicating the opposite in many places in Shan State.
Up to very recently, villagers have been forced to grow rice for the military both in their own and confiscated rice fields. While physic nut plantations were still requiring ongoing forced labour, villagers were forced to grow additional crops in them.
The following are some instances of civilian forced labour being used in cultivating crops by the SPDC authorities and their allies:
FORCIBLE RICE CULTIVATION FOR MILITARY IN MURNG-PAN
From May 2007 up to the current harvesting time, farmers at Tong Teb village in Wo Laai village tract, Murng-Pan township, have been forced by SPDC troops of LIB332 to cultivate rice for them.
Tong Teb village was forcibly relocated in 1997 by the then SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) troops. But in 2002, Tong Teb villagers were allowed by SPDC authorities to return to their original village.
Some villagers have since then returned and there were about 60 households at Tong Teb village at the time of this report. The main reason for them to return was to be able to cultivate their original rice paddies.
However, over the last 3-4 years, the villagers have been forced to cultivate rice also for the SPDC troops of LIB332 during rice growing seasons every year from start to finish, leaving them very little time to tend to their own rice paddies.
The SPDC troops had confiscated several acres of rice fields in Wo Laai village tract from the villagers who had been forced to move away and for some reasons could not return to their original villages. The confiscated land areas were large enough to cultivate about 40 baskets of rice seeds.
During this rice growing season, villagers of Tong Teb were required to work for the military on some parts of the confiscated lands. The 60 or so households of farmers and their 8 mini-tractors had to take turns and work, right from the beginning up to the harvesting time.
The villagers not only did not get paid for their labour and time, but were required to provide their own food and fuel for their tractors while working for the SPDC troops. At the same time, they also needed to cultivate their own rice paddies and there was hardly enough time and energy to work them properly.
Some families who could no longer endure the hardship have fled to other places, including the border with Thailand. “We worked hard but still could not make enough to feed ourselves. There was simply too much work and too little time,” explained a family who have come to the Thai border.
According to them, villagers in other areas of Murng-Pan township have also been forced to cultivate rice for the SPDC military authorities on lands taken from those who had been relocated, including those near the town itself.
FORCIBLE CULTIVATION OF SESAME AND CORN, IN ADDITION TO PHYSIC NUT, FOR THE MILITARY IN MURNG-NAI
Since June 2007 up to the present, villagers in Naa Khaan village tract in Murng-Nai township have been forced to grow sesame and corn for the military by the SPDC troops of IB248.
In early June 2007, military authorities of IB248 issued an order requiring villagers of Naa Khaan village tract to grow sesame and corn among physic nut plants in physic nut plantations along the road leading to the frontier between Murng-Nai and Nam-Zarng townships.
Since early 2006, villagers in the area have been forced by the SPDC authorities to cultivate physic nut plantations along the sides of the said road in Naa Khaan village tract, spanning a length of not less than 7-8 miles up to the frontier of Nam-Zarng township.
The villagers were still required to constantly take care of the physic nut plants, which were about waist-tall at the time, when they were ordered to grow sesame and corn among them, giving them more work and taking away more of their already scarce time.
It was extremely difficult for the local farmers to survive such a situation since the time also coincided with the season they needed to cultivate their own rice crop on which they depended for their survival.
FARMERS FORCED TO GROW DIFFERENT STRAIN OF RICE, AND BUY SEEDS FROM AUTHORITIES, IN KUN-HING
During the last wet rice growing season, from June to November 2007, farmers in Kun-Hing township were forced by SPDC military authorities of LIB524 to cultivate a different strain of rice instead of those grown traditionally and to buy the seeds from the authorities.
At least about 50 plots of rice paddies belonging to the farmers of Wan Paang and Nam Khaam villages, along the road between Kun-Hing and Kaali village tract in Kung-Hing township, were forced to grow the strain of rice, know as ‘Shwe Pyi Aye’, and to buy the rice seeds from the authorities at the price of 20,000 kyat per basket.
Although the farmers did not want to grow the rice because of its low nutrition and not-good-to-eat quality, compared to their traditional strains of rice, they had to do so for fear of further harassments by the authorities.
One farmer was arrested and locked up one night for arguing with the authorities, and was released only after he agreed to do as ordered, explained a refugee from the area who had come to the Thai border.
FORCED LABOUR IN RUBBER PLANTATION IN MURNG-TON
Since more than 2 years ago up to the present, members of a ceasefire group, UWSA, which was an ally of the SPDC junta, have been using forced labour of local villagers in their rubber plantation in Me Ken village tract in Murng-Ton township.
More than 2 years ago, villagers of Naa Pa Kaao village in Me Ken village tract, Murng-Ton township, were required by members of UWSA (United Wa State Army) to plant rubber trees in a newly set up rubber plantation in Me Ken village tract.
For more than one month, 40 villagers per day had to go and work at the plantation planting rubber trees until it was completed. Since then the villagers were required to look after the rubber plants, clearing the ground around each plant, etc., so as to keep them in good shape.
This maintenance work also required 40 villagers per day to work at the plantation for more than a month at a time, and about 3 times per year. Although the villagers were paid 1,000 kyat per person per day for their work, they could not refuse to go.
Those who were not able to go for their turns had to inform concerned authorities in advance and hire UWSA soldiers at the rate of 3,000 kyat per person per day to work in their place. Those who failed to turn up without informing the authorities in advance would have to pay a fine of 5,000 kyat later, they said.
Although the plantation was set up on mostly previously jungle-covered land, many acres of cultivated farm lands belonging to villagers of the surrounding villages had also been confiscated by UWSA troops and included in it.
Furthermore, if villagers’ cattle from the surrounding villages strayed into the plantation, the UWSA troops simply shot them or confiscated them, and threatened to extort money from the owners who tried to claim back their cattle, but without giving them back.
The villagers could do nothing about it because UWSA troops were quite powerful in the area and complaining to the SPDC troops would make no difference. They not only have to endure the burdens put on them by the SPDC troops, but also that of their allies.
THE USE OF FORCED LABOUR IN STATE INFRASTRUCTURE
The SPDC junta authorities are still using forced labour of the people in building and maintaining infrastructure such as roads and military bases, etc.. On many occasions, people are used en masse for long periods of time.
The following are some such instances:
MASS FORCED LABOUR IN BUILDING ROAD IN LAI-KHA AND KUN-HING
Since April 2007, villagers of at least 9-10 villages in Lai-Kha township have been forced to build a new road by the SPDC troops of IB64 and a Shan ceasefire group, up to at least September 2007 when this report was received.
The projected road started from the east of Lai-Kha town up to a point further to the east where it met a road that joined Kun-Hing and Kae-See townships, in Kun-Hing township, covering a distance of about 30 miles in all.
Villages situated along the route of the proposed road have been required to build alloted sections of the road until they were completed. There were about 9-10 villages and each village was given a 3-mile-long section of the road to construct.
The following were some of the known villages that have been forced to build the road: Nawng Wo, Wan Paang, Nam Hoo Nur, Maak Laang, Zalaai Khum, Naa Loi, Paang Saang and Maak Kawk villages.
Villagers of each village were required to take turns and build their sections of the road, using at least 3 mini-tractors of their own to help them transport rocks, stones and sand each day. Those who did not have enough tractors had to hire from others. Fuel for the tractors was bought with money equally collected from all the villagers.
Villagers also had to provide their own food, taking with them packets of cooked rice each day. But when the working places were too far to return home each day, they had to carry a ration of rice and other food stuff for the duration of their work shifts.
Furthermore, the villagers were required to work with their own tools so that they had to carry with them knives, hoes, axes, saws, hammers for splitting rocks and even pails for scooping sand, etc., to where they had to work.
MASS FORCED LABOUR IN BUILDING ROAD IN NAM-ZARNG
In early 2007, for several months during around March, April and May, villagers of several villages in Ton Hung Haai Laai village tract, Nam-Zarng township, were forced to build a road by SPDC troops of LIB543 and a Shan ceasefire group.
Villagers that were forced to build the road included those of the following villages:
1. Ton Hung Haai Laai -- 50 houses
2. Maak Laang -- 40 houses
3. Wan Mai -- 23 houses
4. Kung Yom -- 30 houses
5. Maak Khi Nu --18 houses
The road the villagers had to build was a section of a road joining Nam Hu Phya Tham village in Lai-Kha township and Kho lam village tract in Nam-Zarng township. At least 10 villagers from each of the above villages had to go to work every day in building the road.
The villagers were required to clear the jungle, dig and level the ground, split rocks and pave the road using their own tools and providing their own food. Sometimes they had to stay at the work sites for several days and had to carry enough food with them.
The 5 villages mentioned above had once been forcibly relocated to Kho Lam village relocation site for several years by the military authorities and were allowed to be resettled only recently, and only some of the original villagers had returned.
Since most of the villagers had not yet been able to properly resettle and earn enough from working their farms, they still had to depend on working as day labourers or forest gatherers as the means for their daily survival.
Many families were faced with great difficulties during the construction of the road because there was not enough food for the family members to eat when the main earners had to go and work for several days without getting anything in return, but had to provide their own food. Some families who were not able to survive the hardship without starving have fled to other places including Thailand.
MASS FORCED LABOUR IN BUILDING MILITARY BASE IN LAI-KHA
For several months, since March 2007 up to the time this report was received, villagers in Naa Poi village tract in Lai-Kha township have been forced by SPDC troops of IB64 and a Shan ceasefire group to provide free labour in building a new military base.
Villagers of at least the following 5 villages were required to regularly go and work at a place called Nam Hoo Phya Tham in Naa Poi village tract in Lai-Kha township. Although the authorities said they were building a new town, local villagers believed it was a military base because they were also forced to build trenches, barracks and offices.
The said 5 villages were:
1. Mai Hai -- 40 households
2. Kung Sim -- 30 households
3. Haang Lin -- 27 households
4. Maak Laang Neo -- 10 households
5. Nawng Wo -- 50 households
At least 5 villagers from each village had to go and work for 3 days at a time providing their own food and tools and even their mini-tractors. They had to take turns and work in rotation without break so that there were always people working at the site daily.
The work the villagers had to do included cutting wood and bamboo, sawing lumber, digging and leveling grounds, digging trenches, constructing buildings such as houses, barracks and offices. Mini-tractors were also used to transport building materials to construction sites, on the owners’ own expenses.
Mini-tractors, which were also used in building roads in the area, had to take turns and work in rotation. At least 2 tractors at a time had to work for a shift of 5 days, all at their own expense. Tractors that failed to turn up in time for their shift were taken personally by the troops and used for about 20 days at a time while the owners had to provide the fuel.
ROUTINE OR REGULAR TYPES OF FORCED LABOUR
There are many types of forced labour, often coupled with extortion, that villagers are still forced to provide on a routine or regular basis, by the SPDC troops in Shan State.
Fetching water, gathering firewood, standing guard, standing by at military camps and providing foodstuff, etc., are among them.
The following are some incidents of such cases:
VILLAGERS FORCED TO PROVIDE WATER, FIREWOOD, CHICKENS AND FOODSTUFF, IN NAM-ZARNG
Since around May 2007 up to the time of this report, SPDC troops of IB248 manning a military camp near Loi La village in Loi La village tract, Nam-Zarng township, have been forcing people in the area to regularly provide them with water, firewood, chicken and other food stuff.
The said military camp was set up more than 2 years ago and was manned by rotating troops from Nam-Zarng and Murng-Nai. Different contingents of troops imposed forced labour and extortion on the local villagers with varying degrees.
The SPDC troops that were stationed at the camp since May 2007 were from Murng-Nai-based IB248 and they were said to be worse in oppressing people than the previous contingents of troops since the setting up of the camp.
Villagers in Loi La village tract were required to provide the SPDC troops with 10 barrels or drums of water on a daily basis, which needed to be transported to the military camp every day using their own mini-tractors as the means of transport.
Firewood was needed to be provided on a regular basis. Every 5 days, 2 ox-cart-loads of firewood were to be transported to the camp without fail. Furthermore, chickens, pickled soy bean and cooking oil were also routinely extorted from the villagers.
There were several villages on the eastern side of the Nam Taeng river that had once been forcibly relocated to Kho Lam relocation site and were permitted to return recently. These newly resettled villages did not have any tractors or ox-carts, but they were still required to send chickens and foodstuff to the military camp on a regular basis.
Once a month, each of the said villages was required to bring to the military camp 8 viss (1 viss = 1.6 kg) of chickens, 5 viss of dried pickled soy bean and 5 viss of sesame cooking oil without fail. The following were 5 known villages among them: Kaeng Kham Awn, Paang Sa, Phaa Sawnt, Muay Taw and Khaai Paang Sa.
VILLAGERS FORCED TO STAND GUARD AND PATROL THEIR VILLAGES AT NIGHT IN MURNG-TON
Villagers of Pung Pa Khem village and Son Kuay village in Pung Pa Khem village tract, Murng-Ton township, have been forced to keep watch and patrol their villages, often several days at a time, by SPDC troops from LIB360.
It has been a long practice of the Burmese troops to use villagers in guarding and patrolling the villages for their own (the Burmese troops’) security, and the practice is still being used occasionally as well as regularly in many places in Shan State up to the present.
Whenever there were reasons, e.g., during visits by higher authorities or news of rebel movements, etc., to put up tighter security in and around Pung Pa Khem village, villagers were forced to take up sentry duties and patrol the village during the night, for a period of several days, sometimes up to weeks or months, at a time.
In April and May 2007, before and during a visit to Pung Pa Khem area by the commander of Golden Triangle Regional Command, villagers of Pung Pa Khem and Son Kuay villages were forced by local SPDC troops to stand guard and patrol their villages every night.
There were 4 quarters in Pung Pa Khem village and 3 persons from each quarter were required to keep watch and patrol the village every night. At the same time, 5 villagers of Son Kuay also had to guard and patrol their own village.
The villagers were required to report to the SPDC troops any movements they detected during the night, e.g., how many people entered or left the village each night, the directions they came from or left for and their ethnicities, etc..
If there were strangers coming into the villages, the villagers were to immediately report it to the SPDC troops. If it was later found out that someone had failed to report the presence of strangers in the village, his house would be burned to ashes as punishment. Those who failed to serve as sentries on their turns were fined 5,000 kyat per person per night.
VILLAGERS FORCED TO KEEP WATCH, SERVE AS GUIDES, THREATENED WITH RELOCATION, IN LAI-KHA
Since June 2007 up to the present, SPDC troops of LIB516 have been forcing villagers in Naa Poi and Wan Saang village tract, in Lai-Kha township, to serve as their vigilantes and guides, and threatening to relocate those who failed to provide their free labour.
In June 2007, SPDC troops of LIB516 that were stationed with a Shan ceasefire group at Nam Hoo Phya Tham village in Naa Poi village tract called a meeting of village leaders from all the villages in Naa Poi and Wan Saang village tracts.
At the meeting, the SPDC military authorities issued an order requiring the villagers in the 2 village tracts to keep watch on the movements of Shan resistance troops in the area and report to the authorities any activities they detected.
At least 3 villagers at each village had to be on standby at any given time to serve as vigilantes and immediately report to the SPDC troops any information or movements of the Shan soldiers as soon as possible, and to serve as guides when the SPDC troops patrolled the area.
If the SPDC troops were attacked by Shan troops without prior knowledge of their presence in the area, villages that failed to inform the SPDC troops about the Shan soldiers’ movements would have to relocate back to relocation sites either at Lai-Kha town, Paang Phon village or Kho Lam in Kun-Hing township.
All the villages in Naa Poi and Wan Saang village tracts had once been forcibly relocated to the above 3 relocation sites during the mass forced relocations in 1997-1998 by the then SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) troops, and were allowed to return only a couple of years ago. There were about 30 villages in Naa Poi tract and more than 10 villages in Wan Saang tract at the time of this report.
Forced Labour
Apart from many other types of human rights violations, forced labour, probably one of the longest practised, most systemically integrated and systematically used by successive Burmese juntas’ troops, remains widespread in Shan State, especially in rural areas where it is difficult for outsiders to gain access to, and where people have the least chance to lodge complaints against the perpetrators.
Unpaid civilian forced labour is still being widely used by the SPDC troops and their allies in virtually all areas of their activities, e.g., military operations, construction of infrastructure and military facilities, cultivation of subsistence and cash crops, and many other routine and occasional types of forced labour.
Military operations, especially in patrolling the rural areas, still require villagers to serve as guides and porters during which they are subject to other kinds of abuses, e.g., beating, rape, torture and even killing.
In building and maintaining infrastructure such as roads, railways, bridges, military bases and camps, etc., mass forced labour of the people is still systematically used in many places.
While state-managed physic nut cultivation is an ongoing process requiring routine forced labour of the people, other seasonal crops like rice, bean, corn and sesame, etc., cultivated by local SPDC troops also demand seasonal forced labour of the people.
Continuing forced labour coupled with many other types of gross human rights abuses have been making people’s life more and more unbearable.
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SITUATION OF FORCIBLE CULTIVATION OF CROPS
In spite of the constant denial of continuing use of unpaid civilian forced labour by the SPDC authorities in cultivating crops for the military, there is still a lot of evidence indicating the opposite in many places in Shan State.
Up to very recently, villagers have been forced to grow rice for the military both in their own and confiscated rice fields. While physic nut plantations were still requiring ongoing forced labour, villagers were forced to grow additional crops in them.
The following are some instances of civilian forced labour being used in cultivating crops by the SPDC authorities and their allies:
FORCIBLE RICE CULTIVATION FOR MILITARY IN MURNG-PAN
From May 2007 up to the current harvesting time, farmers at Tong Teb village in Wo Laai village tract, Murng-Pan township, have been forced by SPDC troops of LIB332 to cultivate rice for them.
Tong Teb village was forcibly relocated in 1997 by the then SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) troops. But in 2002, Tong Teb villagers were allowed by SPDC authorities to return to their original village.
Some villagers have since then returned and there were about 60 households at Tong Teb village at the time of this report. The main reason for them to return was to be able to cultivate their original rice paddies.
However, over the last 3-4 years, the villagers have been forced to cultivate rice also for the SPDC troops of LIB332 during rice growing seasons every year from start to finish, leaving them very little time to tend to their own rice paddies.
The SPDC troops had confiscated several acres of rice fields in Wo Laai village tract from the villagers who had been forced to move away and for some reasons could not return to their original villages. The confiscated land areas were large enough to cultivate about 40 baskets of rice seeds.
During this rice growing season, villagers of Tong Teb were required to work for the military on some parts of the confiscated lands. The 60 or so households of farmers and their 8 mini-tractors had to take turns and work, right from the beginning up to the harvesting time.
The villagers not only did not get paid for their labour and time, but were required to provide their own food and fuel for their tractors while working for the SPDC troops. At the same time, they also needed to cultivate their own rice paddies and there was hardly enough time and energy to work them properly.
Some families who could no longer endure the hardship have fled to other places, including the border with Thailand. “We worked hard but still could not make enough to feed ourselves. There was simply too much work and too little time,” explained a family who have come to the Thai border.
According to them, villagers in other areas of Murng-Pan township have also been forced to cultivate rice for the SPDC military authorities on lands taken from those who had been relocated, including those near the town itself.
FORCIBLE CULTIVATION OF SESAME AND CORN, IN ADDITION TO PHYSIC NUT, FOR THE MILITARY IN MURNG-NAI
Since June 2007 up to the present, villagers in Naa Khaan village tract in Murng-Nai township have been forced to grow sesame and corn for the military by the SPDC troops of IB248.
In early June 2007, military authorities of IB248 issued an order requiring villagers of Naa Khaan village tract to grow sesame and corn among physic nut plants in physic nut plantations along the road leading to the frontier between Murng-Nai and Nam-Zarng townships.
Since early 2006, villagers in the area have been forced by the SPDC authorities to cultivate physic nut plantations along the sides of the said road in Naa Khaan village tract, spanning a length of not less than 7-8 miles up to the frontier of Nam-Zarng township.
The villagers were still required to constantly take care of the physic nut plants, which were about waist-tall at the time, when they were ordered to grow sesame and corn among them, giving them more work and taking away more of their already scarce time.
It was extremely difficult for the local farmers to survive such a situation since the time also coincided with the season they needed to cultivate their own rice crop on which they depended for their survival.
FARMERS FORCED TO GROW DIFFERENT STRAIN OF RICE, AND BUY SEEDS FROM AUTHORITIES, IN KUN-HING
During the last wet rice growing season, from June to November 2007, farmers in Kun-Hing township were forced by SPDC military authorities of LIB524 to cultivate a different strain of rice instead of those grown traditionally and to buy the seeds from the authorities.
At least about 50 plots of rice paddies belonging to the farmers of Wan Paang and Nam Khaam villages, along the road between Kun-Hing and Kaali village tract in Kung-Hing township, were forced to grow the strain of rice, know as ‘Shwe Pyi Aye’, and to buy the rice seeds from the authorities at the price of 20,000 kyat per basket.
Although the farmers did not want to grow the rice because of its low nutrition and not-good-to-eat quality, compared to their traditional strains of rice, they had to do so for fear of further harassments by the authorities.
One farmer was arrested and locked up one night for arguing with the authorities, and was released only after he agreed to do as ordered, explained a refugee from the area who had come to the Thai border.
FORCED LABOUR IN RUBBER PLANTATION IN MURNG-TON
Since more than 2 years ago up to the present, members of a ceasefire group, UWSA, which was an ally of the SPDC junta, have been using forced labour of local villagers in their rubber plantation in Me Ken village tract in Murng-Ton township.
More than 2 years ago, villagers of Naa Pa Kaao village in Me Ken village tract, Murng-Ton township, were required by members of UWSA (United Wa State Army) to plant rubber trees in a newly set up rubber plantation in Me Ken village tract.
For more than one month, 40 villagers per day had to go and work at the plantation planting rubber trees until it was completed. Since then the villagers were required to look after the rubber plants, clearing the ground around each plant, etc., so as to keep them in good shape.
This maintenance work also required 40 villagers per day to work at the plantation for more than a month at a time, and about 3 times per year. Although the villagers were paid 1,000 kyat per person per day for their work, they could not refuse to go.
Those who were not able to go for their turns had to inform concerned authorities in advance and hire UWSA soldiers at the rate of 3,000 kyat per person per day to work in their place. Those who failed to turn up without informing the authorities in advance would have to pay a fine of 5,000 kyat later, they said.
Although the plantation was set up on mostly previously jungle-covered land, many acres of cultivated farm lands belonging to villagers of the surrounding villages had also been confiscated by UWSA troops and included in it.
Furthermore, if villagers’ cattle from the surrounding villages strayed into the plantation, the UWSA troops simply shot them or confiscated them, and threatened to extort money from the owners who tried to claim back their cattle, but without giving them back.
The villagers could do nothing about it because UWSA troops were quite powerful in the area and complaining to the SPDC troops would make no difference. They not only have to endure the burdens put on them by the SPDC troops, but also that of their allies.
THE USE OF FORCED LABOUR IN STATE INFRASTRUCTURE
The SPDC junta authorities are still using forced labour of the people in building and maintaining infrastructure such as roads and military bases, etc.. On many occasions, people are used en masse for long periods of time.
The following are some such instances:
MASS FORCED LABOUR IN BUILDING ROAD IN LAI-KHA AND KUN-HING
Since April 2007, villagers of at least 9-10 villages in Lai-Kha township have been forced to build a new road by the SPDC troops of IB64 and a Shan ceasefire group, up to at least September 2007 when this report was received.
The projected road started from the east of Lai-Kha town up to a point further to the east where it met a road that joined Kun-Hing and Kae-See townships, in Kun-Hing township, covering a distance of about 30 miles in all.
Villages situated along the route of the proposed road have been required to build alloted sections of the road until they were completed. There were about 9-10 villages and each village was given a 3-mile-long section of the road to construct.
The following were some of the known villages that have been forced to build the road: Nawng Wo, Wan Paang, Nam Hoo Nur, Maak Laang, Zalaai Khum, Naa Loi, Paang Saang and Maak Kawk villages.
Villagers of each village were required to take turns and build their sections of the road, using at least 3 mini-tractors of their own to help them transport rocks, stones and sand each day. Those who did not have enough tractors had to hire from others. Fuel for the tractors was bought with money equally collected from all the villagers.
Villagers also had to provide their own food, taking with them packets of cooked rice each day. But when the working places were too far to return home each day, they had to carry a ration of rice and other food stuff for the duration of their work shifts.
Furthermore, the villagers were required to work with their own tools so that they had to carry with them knives, hoes, axes, saws, hammers for splitting rocks and even pails for scooping sand, etc., to where they had to work.
MASS FORCED LABOUR IN BUILDING ROAD IN NAM-ZARNG
In early 2007, for several months during around March, April and May, villagers of several villages in Ton Hung Haai Laai village tract, Nam-Zarng township, were forced to build a road by SPDC troops of LIB543 and a Shan ceasefire group.
Villagers that were forced to build the road included those of the following villages:
1. Ton Hung Haai Laai -- 50 houses
2. Maak Laang -- 40 houses
3. Wan Mai -- 23 houses
4. Kung Yom -- 30 houses
5. Maak Khi Nu --18 houses
The road the villagers had to build was a section of a road joining Nam Hu Phya Tham village in Lai-Kha township and Kho lam village tract in Nam-Zarng township. At least 10 villagers from each of the above villages had to go to work every day in building the road.
The villagers were required to clear the jungle, dig and level the ground, split rocks and pave the road using their own tools and providing their own food. Sometimes they had to stay at the work sites for several days and had to carry enough food with them.
The 5 villages mentioned above had once been forcibly relocated to Kho Lam village relocation site for several years by the military authorities and were allowed to be resettled only recently, and only some of the original villagers had returned.
Since most of the villagers had not yet been able to properly resettle and earn enough from working their farms, they still had to depend on working as day labourers or forest gatherers as the means for their daily survival.
Many families were faced with great difficulties during the construction of the road because there was not enough food for the family members to eat when the main earners had to go and work for several days without getting anything in return, but had to provide their own food. Some families who were not able to survive the hardship without starving have fled to other places including Thailand.
MASS FORCED LABOUR IN BUILDING MILITARY BASE IN LAI-KHA
For several months, since March 2007 up to the time this report was received, villagers in Naa Poi village tract in Lai-Kha township have been forced by SPDC troops of IB64 and a Shan ceasefire group to provide free labour in building a new military base.
Villagers of at least the following 5 villages were required to regularly go and work at a place called Nam Hoo Phya Tham in Naa Poi village tract in Lai-Kha township. Although the authorities said they were building a new town, local villagers believed it was a military base because they were also forced to build trenches, barracks and offices.
The said 5 villages were:
1. Mai Hai -- 40 households
2. Kung Sim -- 30 households
3. Haang Lin -- 27 households
4. Maak Laang Neo -- 10 households
5. Nawng Wo -- 50 households
At least 5 villagers from each village had to go and work for 3 days at a time providing their own food and tools and even their mini-tractors. They had to take turns and work in rotation without break so that there were always people working at the site daily.
The work the villagers had to do included cutting wood and bamboo, sawing lumber, digging and leveling grounds, digging trenches, constructing buildings such as houses, barracks and offices. Mini-tractors were also used to transport building materials to construction sites, on the owners’ own expenses.
Mini-tractors, which were also used in building roads in the area, had to take turns and work in rotation. At least 2 tractors at a time had to work for a shift of 5 days, all at their own expense. Tractors that failed to turn up in time for their shift were taken personally by the troops and used for about 20 days at a time while the owners had to provide the fuel.
ROUTINE OR REGULAR TYPES OF FORCED LABOUR
There are many types of forced labour, often coupled with extortion, that villagers are still forced to provide on a routine or regular basis, by the SPDC troops in Shan State.
Fetching water, gathering firewood, standing guard, standing by at military camps and providing foodstuff, etc., are among them.
The following are some incidents of such cases:
VILLAGERS FORCED TO PROVIDE WATER, FIREWOOD, CHICKENS AND FOODSTUFF, IN NAM-ZARNG
Since around May 2007 up to the time of this report, SPDC troops of IB248 manning a military camp near Loi La village in Loi La village tract, Nam-Zarng township, have been forcing people in the area to regularly provide them with water, firewood, chicken and other food stuff.
The said military camp was set up more than 2 years ago and was manned by rotating troops from Nam-Zarng and Murng-Nai. Different contingents of troops imposed forced labour and extortion on the local villagers with varying degrees.
The SPDC troops that were stationed at the camp since May 2007 were from Murng-Nai-based IB248 and they were said to be worse in oppressing people than the previous contingents of troops since the setting up of the camp.
Villagers in Loi La village tract were required to provide the SPDC troops with 10 barrels or drums of water on a daily basis, which needed to be transported to the military camp every day using their own mini-tractors as the means of transport.
Firewood was needed to be provided on a regular basis. Every 5 days, 2 ox-cart-loads of firewood were to be transported to the camp without fail. Furthermore, chickens, pickled soy bean and cooking oil were also routinely extorted from the villagers.
There were several villages on the eastern side of the Nam Taeng river that had once been forcibly relocated to Kho Lam relocation site and were permitted to return recently. These newly resettled villages did not have any tractors or ox-carts, but they were still required to send chickens and foodstuff to the military camp on a regular basis.
Once a month, each of the said villages was required to bring to the military camp 8 viss (1 viss = 1.6 kg) of chickens, 5 viss of dried pickled soy bean and 5 viss of sesame cooking oil without fail. The following were 5 known villages among them: Kaeng Kham Awn, Paang Sa, Phaa Sawnt, Muay Taw and Khaai Paang Sa.
VILLAGERS FORCED TO STAND GUARD AND PATROL THEIR VILLAGES AT NIGHT IN MURNG-TON
Villagers of Pung Pa Khem village and Son Kuay village in Pung Pa Khem village tract, Murng-Ton township, have been forced to keep watch and patrol their villages, often several days at a time, by SPDC troops from LIB360.
It has been a long practice of the Burmese troops to use villagers in guarding and patrolling the villages for their own (the Burmese troops’) security, and the practice is still being used occasionally as well as regularly in many places in Shan State up to the present.
Whenever there were reasons, e.g., during visits by higher authorities or news of rebel movements, etc., to put up tighter security in and around Pung Pa Khem village, villagers were forced to take up sentry duties and patrol the village during the night, for a period of several days, sometimes up to weeks or months, at a time.
In April and May 2007, before and during a visit to Pung Pa Khem area by the commander of Golden Triangle Regional Command, villagers of Pung Pa Khem and Son Kuay villages were forced by local SPDC troops to stand guard and patrol their villages every night.
There were 4 quarters in Pung Pa Khem village and 3 persons from each quarter were required to keep watch and patrol the village every night. At the same time, 5 villagers of Son Kuay also had to guard and patrol their own village.
The villagers were required to report to the SPDC troops any movements they detected during the night, e.g., how many people entered or left the village each night, the directions they came from or left for and their ethnicities, etc..
If there were strangers coming into the villages, the villagers were to immediately report it to the SPDC troops. If it was later found out that someone had failed to report the presence of strangers in the village, his house would be burned to ashes as punishment. Those who failed to serve as sentries on their turns were fined 5,000 kyat per person per night.
VILLAGERS FORCED TO KEEP WATCH, SERVE AS GUIDES, THREATENED WITH RELOCATION, IN LAI-KHA
Since June 2007 up to the present, SPDC troops of LIB516 have been forcing villagers in Naa Poi and Wan Saang village tract, in Lai-Kha township, to serve as their vigilantes and guides, and threatening to relocate those who failed to provide their free labour.
In June 2007, SPDC troops of LIB516 that were stationed with a Shan ceasefire group at Nam Hoo Phya Tham village in Naa Poi village tract called a meeting of village leaders from all the villages in Naa Poi and Wan Saang village tracts.
At the meeting, the SPDC military authorities issued an order requiring the villagers in the 2 village tracts to keep watch on the movements of Shan resistance troops in the area and report to the authorities any activities they detected.
At least 3 villagers at each village had to be on standby at any given time to serve as vigilantes and immediately report to the SPDC troops any information or movements of the Shan soldiers as soon as possible, and to serve as guides when the SPDC troops patrolled the area.
If the SPDC troops were attacked by Shan troops without prior knowledge of their presence in the area, villages that failed to inform the SPDC troops about the Shan soldiers’ movements would have to relocate back to relocation sites either at Lai-Kha town, Paang Phon village or Kho Lam in Kun-Hing township.
All the villages in Naa Poi and Wan Saang village tracts had once been forcibly relocated to the above 3 relocation sites during the mass forced relocations in 1997-1998 by the then SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) troops, and were allowed to return only a couple of years ago. There were about 30 villages in Naa Poi tract and more than 10 villages in Wan Saang tract at the time of this report.
Shan ceasefire group mum on meeting results
